


Quarantine: Part 2

by NinesByDawn



Series: Nest Building [22]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Slice of Life, somewhat modern au but just pretend these things exist in canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:47:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28082640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinesByDawn/pseuds/NinesByDawn
Summary: The birds find more things to do during quarantine.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Raven, Robin/Raven, Robrae
Series: Nest Building [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655041
Comments: 12
Kudos: 20





	Quarantine: Part 2

**Author's Note:**

> "yeah this will only last a few months" I thought when I wrote the first quarantine fic ahahahahahahaha wear a fucking mask
> 
> Also Dick is definitely a quarantine baker do not @ me

_Day 263_

The whirring of the clipper sounded loudly in Robin’s ear as it glided across the side of his head. He stared straight ahead at the mirror, watching locks of his jet-black hair fall to the ground. He had to admit she was right. It was longer than he had realized.

“Ow!” Robin cried. He winced, feeling a sudden sharp pain in the back of his head.

“Sorry,” Raven muttered. “You must have a pimple or something back here. I’ll try not to press too much.” She slowly worked along the back of his head and to the other side, trimming the overgrown hair off. A few minutes later, his sides and back of his hair were all satisfactorily short and uniform.

“Cool! We’re done,” Robin said with a hopeful grin.

Raven raised an eyebrow, then held up a pair of scissors and snipped them in the air a few times for effect. “I don’t think so.”

“You said the sides were too long so you took care of them. I can always gel the top. We talked about this!”

“Your hair—” Raven began, holding a lock off the top his head between her fingers, “literally covers your eyes.” She pulled the lock out front and let it drop, where it indeed fell past his eyes, obscuring his vision. “Just wait a month if you want to go back to your gelled look again. It’s been too long.”

“Take a couple inches off at max. I don’t want an army cut.”

“Fine. But I’m still gonna take a lot off initially.” She sprayed his hair with water and went to work, slowly but deliberately snipping with the scissors. Despite the fact his obscenely long hair irked her, she still had to be careful in not messing up his look. It was different giving someone else a full haircut, and a guy at that, rather than just cutting her own hair.

“Can you go a little faster?” Robin asked, sighing.

“Why? It’s not like you have anywhere to go.”

“This wasn’t my decision. Besides, it doesn’t really matter how my hair looks. Now that they don’t even really ask me to talk at the city meetings, my camera’s off during those calls too.”

“The long hair bothers me. Overruled.”

“You’re just jealous it was about to be longer than yours,” he teased.

“Tch. You’re so stupid,” she said, rolling her eyes. Robin chuckled as she ran a comb through his hair, straightening it and repeating the process of snipping off the top. A few minutes later, she finished and held a lock straight up for Robin to see in the mirror. “Long enough?”

“Eh. Acceptable,” he said. Raven had cut it shorter than the length he was used to having, but it wouldn’t take long for his hair to grow back to the point where he would need to start gelling it again. Raven raised her arm and a small mirror floated into her hand, which she then held up to show him the back.

“Good?”

“Yeah, looks good,” he said.

“Hm, wait,” Raven said, turning him to the side and peering at the mirror in front of them. “I don’t think I blended these sides too well.”

“Rae, it’s fine. It’ll grow back in a couple weeks and it’ll be like it was never there.”

“No. I’m going to fix it. Although, I should probably double check and make sure I’m doing this right. Sit tight.” She cleared some space on the table in front of them and his laptop floated onto the empty space. Standing beside him, Raven skimmed the online guide, the clipper and comb floating in the air above Robin’s head and ready for action. She spent the next few minutes alternating between referencing his laptop and finishing the blend on both sides of his head. When she deemed it satisfactory, the tools returned to rest on top of the table.

“There. I think it looks good now.”

“You left it long enough. And it looks alright,” he said, nodding slightly in agreement.

“Let’s not wait until it’s this long again next time,” Raven said, untying the sheet from around his neck. “You wasted so much hair gel just to keep it out of your eyes.”

“Maybe I can grow it long enough for a little ponytail,” Robin said, grinning. Raven raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll just buzz all of it off if you ever do that.”

* * *

_Day 268_

Friday afternoons were now reserved for their teatime. Or in Robin’s case, coffee instead, as the two of them settled down at a small table in the main room of the tower. It was a chance to have some quiet time while still enjoying each other’s company. They’d split the Friday paper of the Jump City Times, Robin taking the bulk of the paper and Raven taking the weekend crossword, another new hobby she’d picked up. If there was anything interesting, Robin would push the pages with those articles over to her side of the table for her to read after she was done. Beast Boy and Cyborg usually ribbed them for acting so much older than they were, but they didn’t mind. It was all good-natured.

On this particular day, Robin was reading through the finance section, a mug of near-black coffee next to him, while Raven was across from him, levitating at the table and thinking through the crossword with her usual blend of herbal tea nearby. She always levitated when she was deep in thought. Scanning over the Across list, Raven crossed out hints she had already filled out and contemplated the answers to what was left. She’d had better luck with the Down list in this week’s crossword, though there were still a few left to fill in there as well. She took another sip of tea, before twirling her pencil a bit. Pop culture and sports references were usually the ones she needed outside assistance on. 

Robin had still retained some of his mentor’s life lessons, such as managing finances, so he always made sure to read through most of the finance and business sections, despite how dry it could be to read about valuations and tax policy changes. That was mainly what the coffee was for. He found that once he got through that, and into more enjoyable sections like general news or sports, his rate of coffee consumption slowed considerably. Still, it was good to stay informed.

As Robin started reading through an article on vaccine development, he sensed some slight tension in the air. Glancing up from the paper, he eyed Raven briefly. Her head was tilted down slightly, staring at the crossword in front of her. She held a couple fingers to her chin, while still twirling the pencil with her other hand. Robin looked back down and started reading again. The room was generally quiet, with only the hum of the fridge and other appliances providing any background noise. Raven took another sip of tea before erasing some of the crossword and rewriting it. Robin continued to read, but the faint irritation he could sense through their bond wasn’t going away. After another moment, he lowered his paper again.

“Need help?”

Raven looked up, then glanced down at the paper briefly before meeting his eyes again. “23 across. ‘switching up’.”

“‘Switching up’?” Robin repeated. Raven nodded.

“It’s very vague, I know.”

“How many letters?” he asked.

“Nine,” Raven answered. Robin thought for a moment.

“Have you tried ‘positions’?” he asked. “It goes along with that new song. That might be it.”

“I think the sixth letter is supposed to be an ‘o’,” Raven said, checking the paper. “At least, I’m pretty sure ‘chronic’ is the answer to 18 down.”

“Tough,” Robin remarked. “I guess we’ll have to keep thinking.” He looked off to the side in thought, while Raven kept staring at the paper. It took another few minutes of blanking, but finally, Robin thought of something and turned back to face her. “What about ‘crossover’? Sixth letter is an o, and I guess it would fit.”

Raven wrote the word in the blanks, then checked it over. “Looks like that was it.” She looked up and gave him a small smile. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem.” He took another sip of coffee and went back to reading. As the afternoon passed by, the birds continued enjoying their time. Robin passed a few book reviews over to Raven’s side of the table, and they worked together for a few more numbers on the crossword, though Raven was the one to eventually figure them out. Finally, as the sun began its descent towards the horizon, they finished their drinks and cleaned up the table, having wrapped up another cozy afternoon.

* * *

_Day 271_

Ordering delivery as a team was always a crapshoot. Some days they could come to a consensus on one place quickly, usually Pizza Corner, and eat dinner at a reasonable hour. Other days it seemed like everyone was craving something different, which always drove Robin crazy with the time they’d waste and the extra fees they’d pay to satisfy everyone. Today was decidedly one of those latter types of days.

“Why can’t we just order everything from Sitar Café?” Beast Boy asked, pacing around the room. “I can get a super bomb roti and curry and you guys can get your chicken tikka masala. It works for everyone!”

“Beast Boy, we’ve eaten from that place three times in the past two weeks,” Robin said, scrolling through the options on his laptop. He had multiple tabs open, each from a different delivery service, and was tapping his finger impatiently on the edge of the keyboard. “If you don’t want food from anywhere else, we can still put in a separate order, but we have to decide what the rest of us are gonna have.”

“I agree. Perhaps we could try the place that fuses the American and Asian food?” Starfire suggested. “The sushi pizza looks very tasty.”

“Sushi pizza?” Raven said, snorting. “Sounds like they ruined both cuisines.”

“I just wanna know who here doesn’t want burgers or pizza,” Cyborg said, standing up and facing the couch. “I’ve always said if we can’t decide, we just go with one of those two. Nobody can get upset about that!”

“There’s still two pizza boxes and your half-eaten burger in our fridge,” Raven said, pointing to the kitchen. “Even _you_ don’t want burgers or pizza anymore.”

“Let’s hear your ideas, then, Rae,” Cyborg said, glaring at her a little. “I’m sure you know some place that we’d all _love_ to try.”

“Uhh…” Raven fell silent, her mouth halfway open as she struggled to name a restaurant.

“We never have any leftovers when we get Sitar,” Beast Boy said. “I’m just saying!”

Robin sighed. “Guys, I mean, if we can’t decide maybe we should just finish what we have. There’s still some meatloaf left and I can bake some bread to go along with—”

“No!” The other four Titans cut him off in unison. If there was one thing they could agree on, it was that they were all sick of eating Robin’s quarantine baking creations.

“Alright, I get it,” Robin said, holding his hands up.

“Shall we go for Mexican?” Starfire suggested. “I believe it is the ‘Taco Tuesday’, yes?”

“Hasn’t that always been bad for your stomach?” Beast Boy said, narrowing his eyes at her. “Or, stomachs, I mean.” 

“Yes, friend, it is,” she said solemnly. “I shall continue thinking about our dinner.”

“What about Chinese, huh?” Cyborg asked.

“Are we talking authentic or…like orange chicken?” Robin questioned.

“I mean, I’d prefer…some orange chicken,” Cyborg said, cracking a hopeful smile. The two birds turned to look at each other, then to Starfire and Beast Boy.

“Star? BB? Thoughts?” Robin asked.

“Nope. The only Chinese thing I can have is tofu. Why would I _order_ more tofu when I already have so much of it here?” Beast Boy said.

“There’s more than just tofu. You just haven’t looked hard enough,” Raven said.

“And you think I’ll find more than that at the same place Cyborg wants to get orange chicken?” Beast Boy shot back.

Raven paused for a couple of seconds. “Fair enough.”

“I would like to order from Sitar Café again, please,” Starfire said, making up her mind. “While the chicken that is sweet and sour is most delightful, the Indian food pairs very well with mustard.”

“Alright, it looks like it’s inevitable we’re putting multiple orders in,” Robin said. “I’m letting you guys know it’s gonna be more expensive. We could’ve saved on all these places if we had $30 or more of food orders at them.”

“Save it,” Raven muttered. “At least we’ve figured something out.”

“Alright, and my order of orange chicken will be coming from China Star,” Cyborg proclaimed. “What are y’all having?”

“I kinda wanted a steak, but if both of us get something from here we can at least save on delivery fees,” Robin said, turning to Raven. “Unless you really have some other preference.”

Raven looked around, seeing that everyone else was waiting on her so they could go ahead and get orders in. “I guess I don’t,” she said, shrugging. The taste of Chinese food was also wearing on her given how many times they’d had it since the start of quarantine, but it’d be tolerable for tonight. 

Robin took everyone’s order and a few clicks later, their dinner was on its way to being made and delivered. Later, Starfire brought up that she was craving Insomnia Cookies, and Cyborg agreed, so he acquiesced to their request and agreed to put in an order for a box right before their dinner arrived. As the deliveries got closer, Starfire and Beast Boy went down to wait for the food, while Cyborg started tidying up the kitchen. As Robin was filling out the cookie order, Raven sat down next to him, leaning in close and looking at the screen.

“Yes?” Robin asked. Raven glanced at him.

“Do you want dessert?”

“Not really,” he responded. “Do _you_ want dessert?”

Raven paused for a few seconds, still keeping a neutral expression. “Possibly.”

“Are you having cravings too?”

“Somewhat,” she said. “But I don’t want an entire dessert to myself.”

“So?”

“So, I was thinking we could split something…” she said, offering a brief smile.

“Convince me, then,” Robin said, letting out a small chuckle.

“Ice cream?”

“Eh. Don’t really want it,” Robin said. “Besides, you trust it to not melt coming all the way from some place across the bay?”

“Fair point,” Raven said. “Not many reliable choices for dessert delivery.”

“You’ll have to decide quick if you want something that isn’t from Insomnia,” Robin said, scrolling through the options on Doordash. “Most of these places are closing soon.”

“What about brownies?” she suggested. “I think we’ve had this place once.” She pointed to a small shop on the list, and Robin clicked on it. “Made-to-order too.”

“Looks like only do either by singles or a dozen. And you need at least half a dozen for delivery,” Robin said, looking over the menu.

“They look larger than usual brownies,” Raven said. “Do you want them?”

“I guess they’d be good, yeah,” Robin said. “Fresh and warm. But I don’t even want to have three if we get half a dozen. I’d have maybe one, at most.”

“That works for me. I think we should split one.”

“We’re splitting one brownie?” Robin asked, laughing a bit.

“What? It’s enough for my satisfaction.” She shrugged a little. “And you’re always going on about limiting sugar.”

“Alright, I guess we can do it. But we still can’t get it delivered.”

“You can put it in as a pickup order. I can go grab it,” Raven said.

Robin nodded. “Does double chocolate chunk work?”

“Sounds perfect.”

And so, later that night, they shared a single warm chocolate brownie.

* * *

_Day 274_

“How do you do the B-reverse again?”

“You have to press B and then immediately tap in the opposite direction,” Robin said. “Like so.” He inputted the commands and his character Mario turned the other way, putting out a fireball.

“Alright.” Raven jumped using her character Marth, then tried to turn towards Robin with the shield breaker move, only to land in the same direction Marth was facing to begin with.

“It takes practice to get used to. As do a lot of techniques in this game,” Robin commented. “All about the timing.” Raven tried again, this time successfully turning Marth around and stabbing Mario with his sword.

“Okay…so I did it but I don’t remember how to do it,” Raven said.

“That’s also common,” Robin said, chuckling. “Ready for another match?”

“Sure. Maybe I’ll get one stock off you this time.”

“You’re a quick learner. I’m sure you’ll put up a fight.” The two of them started another fight with their chosen characters.

“What’s the difference between Marth and Lucina?” Raven wondered aloud while the screen was loading.

“Marth’s sword is tipped,” Robin explained. “It does more damage and knockback at the tip than if you hit someone close up. Lucina’s does the same no matter how close or far away you hit them.”

“Wow. Marth’s sword works like something else I know.”

“Raven…” He shot her a nasty side-eye, and she smirked in response. Just then, the game loaded and they started fighting.

“So Marth takes more skill is what you’re saying,” Raven commented as she rolled away and tried to counter his attacks.

“Well, I guess you could put it that way,” Robin said. “They play differently. People have different preferences and probably like one more than the other based on that.” Their fight grew more intense, and Raven found her tongue hanging off to the side of her mouth a little as she tried to concentrate. She had to admit that gaming did take more skill and knowledge than she had assumed it would all this time. Or maybe it was just Smash in particular. Despite her efforts, Robin still knocked her first two stocks out easily.

“What’s up, dudes?!” Beast Boy bounded over to the couch, having seen the screen was on. He reached the front and stopped, his jaw dropping when he saw Raven. Speechless, he stared at her, then at the screen, then back at her.

“Save it,” Raven muttered, still concentrating on the fight.

“B-but—wha—why—” Beast Boy stumbled over his words, as he couldn’t decide what part of the scene was most shocking.

“Aaaand that’s game,” Robin declared, as he hit Raven with a side smash on her recovery back to the ledge. “You were saying, Beast Boy?”

“You…got _her_ …to play video games?!”

“Not by choice,” Raven said, setting down her controller.

“But you _are_ enjoying it,” Robin said, smirking a bit.

“I’ll admit I was _somewhat_ wrong about them,” she said. “The jury is still out though.”

“And _what_ are you wearing?” Beast Boy asked, gesturing wildly to her outfit. Robin struggled to stifle his laughter, while Raven looked at him icily.

“Don’t. Ask.”

“Nope. I _have_ to know. There’s definitely something you made her do, Robin,” Beast Boy said, pointing a finger in his direction.

“Why don’t you tell him, Raven?” Robin said, now starting to crack up.

Raven let out a long sigh. “I lost a bet.”

“It does look good on you, though,” Robin teased. “It was too small for me, but it fits you perfectly. It’s not like it’s that much longer than what you usually wear.” He eyed her, dressed in one of his old uniforms, except the bottoms were tights and the whole outfit had more yellow in general than his current uniform. Raven glared at him, then glanced at Beast Boy, who was trying to decide whether to laugh with Robin or be sympathetic in order to stay on her good side.

“Not even the mask can save this from being the most ridiculous outfit I have ever seen,” Raven grumbled. “You actually wore this out to fight crime?” She then turned to Beast Boy. “I was hoping it wouldn’t be _you_ to be the first one to see me like this.”

“I heard the sound of Smash, so I came over!” Beast Boy said, holding his hands up. “That’s it. Besides, why aren’t you guys playing with Sephiroth yet?”

“I’ll do that next,” Robin said. “I haven’t really gotten to learn him yet. You wanna get on for a game?”

“Nah, I think I’ll just watch Raven play,” Beast Boy said, snickering. “How long do you have to stay like this?”

“Until the end of the day,” she said slowly, still fuming. Beast Boy took a seat on the couch next to Robin, and watched as the two of them went back into training mode to practice some more.

“What did you guys bet on, anyways?” Beast Boy asked. Raven stayed silent, while the sound of her button mashing grew noticeably louder.

“Your eating contest from the other day,” Robin said, chuckling.

“Which one?” he asked, scratching his head.

“The…Mega Monkeys challenge, I think you guys call it?” Robin said.

“Oh, that one! Yeah, that one’s never fair for me. The taste of tofu gets old after a while no matter what you put on it, but Chromedome can go pick like eight different meats to alternate in!”

“Well, I figured that was one of the reasons,” Robin said. “Looks like I know more about you guys than Raven does.” He knocked Raven down with a midair spike, annoying her even more. “Never bet against the bottomless stomach.”

“Heh. Well, I’m definitely taking the next one, if you guys wanna bet again.”

“This is the last time I bet on anything relating to Beast Boy,” Raven muttered. Beast Boy grinned, turning his attention back to the screen as the two birds continued practicing. It took a moment for the lightbulb to go off in Beast Boy’s mind, but when it did, he looked up in confusion at Robin.

“Wait! If Cyborg won, and you won the bet, then that means…”

Robin started chortling, glancing over at Raven. She kept her eyes straight forward, knocking Robin’s Mario off the stage, almost as if to vicariously take her anger out on him through Marth’s blade. Beast Boy stared at her in shock.

“Raven? Wanted me?! To do good at something?!” he said in disbelief, gesturing to her. “Man, and I thought 2020 was weird enough already.”

“From this point on, I am burning any memory of me ever making this bet,” Raven said, seething. She hit Robin with a tipped aerial attack to finish him, sending him flying down into the abyss.

“Wow. Looks like you play better when you’re irritated,” Robin commented, unable to resist the temptation to get one last barb in.

“Aha, well, speaking of food, I think I’m gonna grab some snacks,” Beast Boy said nervously, hopping up from the couch. He grabbed some sweet potato chips from a cabinet and stayed over at the counter, still watching them as Robin switched to Sephiroth and they began another match. After a minute, he sensed that Raven had settled down and that they had both started to ignore him, so he came a little closer and sat down at a table. “Hey, so, there was one other thing I was wondering.”

“What’s that?” Robin asked.

“So…what did Robin have to do if he lost the bet?” Beast Boy asked. Raven paused the game and glanced at Robin, whose smile suddenly disappeared. She flashed a devilish look, which sent chills down Beast Boy’s spine.

“Oh, you don’t wanna know.”

* * *

 _Day 278_

The surroundings of the trail were quiet except for the occasional crunching of leaves under footsteps. Though there were a decent number of people around, the winter weather had at least decided to cooperate on this day, with only a few clouds hovering in the sky. Their fingers were intertwined as they walked alongside each other, mostly in silence. They watched couples and families roam around the park, sometimes bringing dogs to walk with, but kept their distance when someone got too close to them on the trail. It used to just be their preference to be far away from other people, but now it was a mandate too.

The two birds reached the koi pond at the edge of the park, and Robin led her over to one of the edges where they could get a better look. They could make out the orange and white of the koi clearly against the backdrop of the greenish water, the fish flexing their tails back and forth to glide around the pond.

“We can stay here for a bit,” Robin said, glancing up. “The sun won’t set for another hour, at least.” He continued holding onto her hand as they took in the environment, the sun’s rays casting a slight reflection on the pond’s surface and the water rippling slightly from the movements of the koi.

“It’s less busy than I expected,” Raven said after a few moments. She lowered her hood and glanced at him. “You would think more people would want to get out of their homes by now.”

“Less people to see us around,” Robin replied. “Especially when it’s when we don’t want attention.”

“Of course. Just making an observation.”

Another few moments passed. Through the bond, she sensed the pond having a calming effect on him, though there was still a corner of his mind that was just a little on edge. It wasn’t quite like when he was worried about crime; it felt to her more like an annoyance.

“Something on your mind?” she inquired. He broke his gaze away from the pond to turn to her.

“I kind of wish we weren’t so…limited by what we could do,” he mused. “I had some other places I wanted to take us. I was hoping everything could be cleared up by now but—”

Raven put a finger up to his mask, holding it where his lips were and cutting him off.

“No. This is perfect,” she said. She smiled at him, and though her face was covered, Robin could tell the change in expression in her eyes. He turned so he was facing her, then held her hand up and cupped it with his other hand.

“It’s cliché but time does fly. Especially when you’re stuck at home and every day feels the same,” he said, letting out a light laugh.

“This is the part where I respond with something equally cliché like ‘but every day is different with you’,” Raven said.

“But you won’t do that,” Robin said, grinning behind his mask.

“And you would be correct,” she replied. The two of them shared a laugh, before Robin let go of her hand. They sat down on a nearby bench, continuing to gaze out over the pond. She put her arm around him, and he leaned in a little closer on her collar in return.

“At least we’ll have my cake when we get home,” Robin said. “Gotta have some festivities.”

“I knitted something as well.”

“What did you make?”

“Mm. You’ll find out,” Raven said. They fell silent for a few more moments, enjoying the serenity that nature provided them. Robin felt a cozy warmth spread through his being, and suspected it was more than just a physical feeling. He understood why Raven always wanted to get closer to him when they were alone.

“Hopefully this is all cleared up by our next one,” he said.

“Why? If things were normal, we’d probably be staying home to celebrate anyway,” Raven said. “Besides, there’s only so many things you can do before you run out of ideas.”

“That’s true,” Robin said, chuckling a bit. “But we’re not that old yet. Well, maybe you are in spirit, Miss Tea Drinker and Knitter.”

“Sometimes I do feel the oldest out of all of us,” Raven muttered. “Especially when you all are off making TikToks.”

“One day you shall see the light,” Robin teased. She rolled her eyes in response. A few koi swam closer to the edge, attracting their attention, and they watched the fish for a bit more. Robin wriggled his arm out from between their bodies and put it around her, and she obliged with switching positions, tucking her arm in between them. Robin pulled out the small robin necklace from under his shirt, holding up the mini bird.

“I have something important to tell you,” he said.

She looked at him amusedly. “Is it that you love me?”

“Psh…uh, no,” he said, trying to deny it.

“You need better lead-ins, Boy Blunder. You’re too predictable.” She drew her raven from around her neck and held it up as well, clinking it with his for a moment to form the heart.

“Well, it still worked,” he said.

She reached up and fluffed his hair a bit, still amused. “I guess you being a cornball has been entertaining.”

“I like taking the long-winded road for these things,” Robin said. “But, what I was also going to add was…” He leaned in closer and took her hand again, and they stared into each other’s eyes affectionately. “Happy anniversary.”

Raven’s eyes widened a bit as she smiled. “To many more.”

He gripped her hand a little tighter for a moment. “Of course.”

Though their faces couldn’t meet for a kiss, their eyes said everything instead.


End file.
